Ashleigh McIvor of Whistler takes 1st place during the FIS Freestyle World Championships Women's Ski Cross event on March 2 in Inawashiro, Japan

Photograph by: Getty Images
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The first-time Olympic sport of ski cross looks like it should be decided by the athlete with the strongest pull out of the start gate, the best balance, the most aggressive disposition and the sharpest elbows.

Reigning world women's champion Ashleigh McIvor thinks the winners at Cypress Bowl next February might just wind up being the ones with the best physio and massage therapy support staff.

The 26-year-old from Whistler nursed her ailing lower back through two tough days at a World Cup stop in San Candido, Italy, this week, earning second-and fifth-place finishes to officially secure her 2010 spot.

It's a nagging injury that McIvor, who has also battled a bum shoulder for a few years, figures she's going to have to deal with throughout the season.

"I've always said ski cross is about injury management," a laughing McIvor said in a conference call from Italy on Tuesday. "You're going to crash, it's kind of a given. It comes down to who has the best physiotherapist."

Often described as motocross or roller derby on snow, ski cross can be a joint-straining, bone-rattling sport with as many as five runs a day -up to four of them in four-skier heats -down a minute-plus length course that features big rollers, compressions, high-banked turns and jumps.

Unfortunately, the course in San Candido, which was hosting its first World Cup ski cross, wasn't anything like that. With almost no banking and just a couple of small jumps, it was basically a 45-second alpine style sprint.

McIvor said it was frustrating, particularly for the North Americans used to the tracks built by noted Whistler-based builder Jeff Ihaksi. But it was still tough physically given that the San Candido organizers "seemed to forget to build landings to go with the jumps. Our bodies took quite a beating."

McIvor had provisionally qualified for the Olympics with her win at worlds last March and needed to reach the quarter-finals twice this season to assure her spot. She did that this week at the season-opener, following up Monday's silver medal with a win in Tuesday's consolation final for a fifth overall placing.

"Now, I can just focus on skiing," said McIvor, adding that she's determined to deal with Olympic expectations by having as much fun as she can "as opposed to getting stressed out about all the pressure."

McIvor lost a chance for another medal when she missed a pole plant coming out of the gate in the semifinal and was knocked off line in the second corner by French star Ophelie David, the six-time World Cup overall champion.

"We seem to have mutual respect for one another," said McIvor. "She's been known to give me space in situations like today. Today, she didn't give me any space. I'll remember for next time."

With the ski-cross racers in a battle with Canada's moguls and aerials skiers for spots on Canada's 18-member Olympic freestyle team, Julia Murray of Whistler staked an early claim by finishing fourth on Tuesday after an 18th-place finish on Monday. Murray, who failed to qualify for heat racing in the first three World Cups last season, said she was happy with her performance, particularly pulling out of the gate.

"My starts were pretty good. I nailed it every time except for [the final]," said Murray, who fell to fourth in the early rollers and didn't have time to make a pass on the short course.

Anna Holmlund of Sweden was the winner both days, matching the golden double on the men's side by Michael Schmid of Switzerland.

The Canadian men's team, which swept the podium at a World Cup stop at Cypress last February, struggled in qualifying and the heat racing on both days.

There were 89 starters on Tuesday, with the 32 qualifiers finishing within 8/10ths of a second of each other. Stanley Hayer of Kimberley was 11th on Tuesday, with Dave Duncan of Golden 14th, Nick Zoricic of Toronto 20th and Chris Del Bosco of Vail, Colo., 24th.

Head coach Eric Archer said he wasn't overly concerned about the men's slow start.

"It happens to us every year when we've been training together all summer," he said. "You get a little nice and a little soft and you come back to Europe and people start throwing elbows in your ribs and it wakes you up."

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